Popular mobile case accessory maker Griffin teamed up with Nashville-based Rail Yard Studios to create two gorgeous tablet stands: the Rail Slice and Rail Artifact. Both are built from reclaimed railroad steel first installed on the original Louisville and Nashville Railroad between 1906 and 1908, and can support small and full-size tablets in either landscape or portrait mode.

Theres nothing quite like the charm of old railway steel and the steel spikes used to bolt down the tracks. Just take a look at any flea market or shop in Brooklyn and youll find exposed brick, steel with great patina, and bare light bulbs hanging from copper wire. Industrial chic is in vogue. Now you can incorporate a bit of that rustic charm into your own life with these tablet stands.

The two stands are made of the sturdy and beautifully aged railroad steel, but there are slight differences in design. The Rail Slice Tablet Stand is made out of a piece of decommissioned rail and sports a milled hole where you can connect your charging cable. The hole also ensures that the tablets speakers dont get muffled. Meanwhile, the Rail Artifact Stand is created out of two antique railroad spikes and a tie plate that once held the railroad together. The spikes give added texture to the piece and make it a real work of art.

We know consumers are looking for unique and interesting gifts for the tech-lover in their lives so we partnered with Rail Yard Studios to offer hand-made pieces they cant find anywhere else, said Scott Naylor, VP of Product Development at Griffin Technology. These rare tablet stands are American-made and the perfect way to preserve a piece of history in the digital age.

Related:Fifteen of our favorite iPad and iPad Mini stands

The steel used to make both stands is more than a century old. Its pitted in places and has a nice patina. Even when your tablet isnt in the stand, it will look like a gorgeous sculpture.The stands are made by hand, so each piece is unique. Rail Yard Studios warns against setting your tablet in the stand unprotected, though, as the forged steel may scratch the tablets edges. Luckily, if you buy a Rail Yard Studio tablet stand, youll get your choice of a Griffin tablet cover for free.

The Rail Slice Tablet Stand and the Rail Artifact Stand cost $130 and are available for order on Griffins website.

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Teach your tablet a thing or two about durability with these 100-year-old steel stands

As a child, I was obsessed with the railroad tracks. We lived very close to them, so it was a great place to hang around with friends and pass the time. One of our favorite things was to put pennies on the tracks so they would get flattened. Sure, it was a silly thing, but to a kid, it is the coolest thing ever.

Now that I am an adult, hanging out on the tracks would be weird, as that is mostly reserved for grown-ups that are up to no good. Luckily, thanks to Griffin, I can now relive my youth with the all-new Rail Yard Studios tablet stands. You see, these are made from actual decommissioned railroad steel!

"Griffin Technology, one of the world's foremost creators of innovations for everyday life, has partnered with Rail Yard Studios, creators of unique custom furniture made from historic century-old railroad steel and hardwood timbers, to construct two exclusive tablet stands. Fashioned from reclaimed rail stock installed on the original Louisville and Nashville Railroad between 1906 and 1908, the Rail Slice Tablet Stand and the Rail Artifact Stand celebrate the rich history of the original superhighway -- the railroad", says Griffin.

The company further explains, "each stand is built to hold a full or mini sized tablet in both landscape and portrait orientation. Rail Slice Tablet Stand is a piece of decommissioned rail with a milled cavity to accommodate a charging cable and allow the tablet's speakers to project sound without obstruction. Rail Artifact Stand is created from two antique railroad spikes with a tie plate that was used to hold the railroad together".

Are they practical? No, it is probably overkill for a tablet stand. However, it is a cool piece of history that should last much longer than mass-produced plastic junk. Quite frankly, it should make quite the conversation piece when guests come to your home. With that said, the $129 price tag makes it quite the expensive tchotchke.

Will you buy one of these stands? Tell me in the comments.

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Stick your tablet on the railroad tracks with the Griffin and Rail Yard Studios tablet stands

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) November 16, 2014

Located in the center of the High Tech Corridor that runs from Tampa to the Space Coast, Orlando is one of the most promising tech hubs in the state - and Florida has seen the second highest rate of growth in the nation for tech-sector jobs, with a 5.4% increase in the first half of 2014. New and growing tech companies in Orlando are increasingly hungry for talented developers to hire, and intensive code schools like The Iron Yard offer a solution. In January The Iron Yard, the only such boot camp in Orlando, will be expanding its course offerings to meet the needs of the market by adding a class in Ruby on Rails.

Located in the Church Street Exchange Building, The Iron Yard opened its Orlando campus on Sept. 22nd of this year with a course in Front End Engineering. In January of 2015, The Iron Yard is increasing its offerings with a course that focuses on back end engineering: Ruby on Rails. A relatively young language that has gained significant traction in recent years as a result of its versatility, Ruby (on the Rails framework) is now used by such giants as SoundCloud, Shopify, Groupon, Square, and Airbnb. Orlando has a seen a growing demand for Ruby on Rails engineers, and it is this market for jobs that The Iron Yard plans to tap into through its immersive training program.

What type of student fits the mold at an immersive programming school? The Iron Yard aims to change the landscape of education in technology, beginning by opening their courses to candidates from all walks of life. From mid-career financial gurus to creative-types, the common vein that runs true at The Iron Yard is a passion for learning and a propensity for problem solving. With no coding experience required, how far could a three-month course take students? Far enough to launch a career, get a job, or start a company. Students spend the final two weeks of their project-based curriculum building a robust application for over 80 hours each week, tackling everything from concept to deployment. That capstone project serves as proof that they are ready to work as a professional and solve programming problems for companies and clients.

Enrollment is open for The Iron Yard's January Ruby on Rails Course. Classes start on January 5th, so apply today.

Interested in learning to code or hiring development talent? Check out theironyard.com/orlando to find out more.

The rest is here:
The Iron Yard Opens New Intensive Ruby on Rails Course in Orlando

Q With winter approaching it does not seem logical, but I have read that fall is a good time to plant trees. Is that true?

A Fall is a good time for planting several things spring flowering bulbs and trees are among those plants that can be planted in the autumn.

Many nurseries have container-grown trees and shrubs that are often discounted in the autumn. They will have new plant material arriving in the spring and want to clear old planting stock so that they have room for the new material, and to avoid the necessity of maintaining it over the winter. Plants in containers are more subject to drying and freezing damage than plants in the ground, so they are better off planted in your landscape rather than waiting through the winter at the nursery.

Another reason for fall planting, even if you cannot get discounted plants, is the fact that many trees and shrubs from temperate climates produce new root growth in the autumn. This is because the upper portion of the tree received most of the food produced by leaves during the summer when the air was warm and metabolic activity was high in the upper portion of the plants. As the air cools in the autumn, the upper portion of the plants begins to go dormant and metabolic activity decreases. However, at this time the soil is still warm and metabolism continues in the roots. Metabolism draws food from the trunk and branches to the roots allowing growth at this time of year. Another advantage in New Mexico is that there is usually less wind in the fall than in the spring.

If trees are properly planted in the fall, they should be well established by spring and able to begin new leaf production better than if they were planted in the spring. Planting directions are available in NMSU Extension How-to Publication H-420 Establishing Fruit and Shade Trees at http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H420.pdf or in Spanish at http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H420SP.pdf. After planting the trees, irrigation once or twice a month depending on precipitation and organic mulch will help assure successful establishment and growth of your new tree in the spring.

Send your gardening questions to Yard and Garden, Attn: Dr. Curtis Smith, NMSU Agricultural Science Center, 1036 Miller Rd. SW, Los Lunas, NM 87031. You may also send to cwsmith@nmsu.edu or leave a message at https://www.facebook.com/NMSUExtExpStnPubs.

Curtis W. Smith, Ph.D., is an Extension Horticulture Specialist emeritus with New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service.

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Yard & Garden: Fall is a good time to plant trees

When she isn't playing spunky characters like Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence walks red carpets in elegant gowns by Dior, the couture house for which she is a celebrity face. From the time she wowed us in Dior Haute Couture while accepting an Academy Award for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook" in 2013, to the Dior high-low dress she wore this week to the London premiere of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1," she's looked feminine and chic. But growing up, she was a tomboy who wore hand-me-downs from her two older brothers along with yard-sale finds, she told French magazine Madame Figaro. [People]

Kim Kardashian bared more than her rear end for Paper magazine, as we reported here at All the Rage on Thursday. She also went full frontal. [Los Angeles Times]

Paper's editorial director Mickey Boardman tells the Cut that baring all was Kardashian's idea: "We hadn't planned for her to take her clothes off. She wanted to and it kind of fit with the thing, and [photographer] Jean-Paul [Goude] was super excited about her attitude and Kim was super excited. Everyone was excited about working together and making magic." [The Cut]

Meanwhile in another corner of Kardashian Land, Kim's half-sister Kendall Jenner reportedly has opted, along with Cara Delevingne, to model for Chanel in Austria on Dec. 2, instead of for Victoria's Secret in London on the same day.[New York Post]

Mercedes-Benz, title sponsor for New York Fashion Week since 2009, may pull out, reports the Hollywood Reporter. [THR]

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Jennifer Lawrence wore yard-sale clothes and brothers' hand-me-downs

Published on November 10, 2014

St. Columban's teacher Meghan Henry and student Eric Brisebois show off the barren landscape that is the school yard.

CORNWALL, Ontario - The students at St. Columban's School in Cornwall want some grass in their yard - and they need your help to get it.

The school has been chosen by Aviva Insurance to take part in a community fund to help beautify the property at its Augustus Street locale.

The school is in the running for thousands of dollars to help offset the cost of turning the barren concrete and asphalt that dominates the yard into a lush, green landscape.

But the school is not alone in petitioning Aviva for funding. As part of the community fund project, the school is up against other worthy submissions that want to take advantage of the same funding pot.

People can vote online for the St. Columban's projecthere.

Meghan Henry, a Grade 1 teacher at the school, said the children are desperate for some grass in the school yard.

"It's what they really want," she said, adding some have approached her to suggest tripping and scraping one's knee on a grassy field is more desirable than the hard asphalt that currently exists.

There are just a few days for votes to be collected. If St. Columbans is successful in this round of voting, it will be on to the semifinals and more voting, before spots are determined for the final round and cash is doled out.

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School needs your help to renovate its yard

TULSA, Oklahoma -

Can a park transform a city?

The man whose firm is behind the design for Tulsa's Gathering Place says it can.

Michael Van Valkenburgh has become one of the world's most acclaimed landscape architects by stressing that parks are more than just a collection of trees and swing sets. He believes they're a place for people, where strangers can mingle and interact and build a better city in the process.

To get a sense of what's coming to Tulsa, I met Van Valkenburgh in Brooklyn, New York, his home, where his firm has turned an industrial wasteland into a vibrant piece of urban life.

The sounds of a park in the middle of America's greatest city a park with a heart-stopping view of that city are the sounds that tell Van Valkenburgh he's done his job well.

This is something that people want to embrace, it's all around us, he said. People having a good time, around other people they don't know. People like being around people.

First and foremost, America's leading landscape architect considers himself in the people business.

Whether it's at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pennsylvania Avenue out front of the White House, Harvard Yard, the Gateway Arch grounds in St. Louis, the George W. Bush library, and soon, Tulsa's Gathering Place, Van Valkenburgh is at the top of his game and his profession - at a time of exciting renewal for American cities.

I feel very lucky as a landscape architect that I'm alive and doing this work at a time when people are so interested in what makes cities a good place to live, he said.

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Architect Behind Tulsa's Gathering Place Believes It Could Be City's Centerpiece

In the desert, where ecologically incorrect verdant lawns are trendy, not everyone has the 25 years of experience in landscape management and water conservation that Susan Savolainen can provide when it comes to figuring out why some spots of the lawn are less green than others.

At her home in Banning, her front yard is a landscaped example of what can be done with drought-tolerant plants, interspersed with geranium incanum, irises, star jasmine, rosemary, and an eastern red bud shrub.

Her backyard is a manicured emerald exhibit of what a carefully watered lawn can look like.

You dont have to sacrifice your lawn and have an entirely desolate desert landscape, Savolainen says. There are ways you can reduce or replace grass to reduce water usage and lower your water bills.

Savolainen founded her company over the summer, realizing that a lot of people in the Pass area could use some sage advice in how to conserve water and create landscapes that dont need to be intensely watered.

She has a degree in ornamental horticulture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and is a certified irrigation auditor who worked for the Western Region Metropolitan Water District for 25 years.

Her time with the water district helped hone an appreciation for conservation and environmental preservation, she says.

Ever since I was a little girl, I enjoyed working in the yard, playing with plants, Savolainen says. Now that were in a drought, there are ways we can save water.

According to Savolainen, some common issues that she encounters when providing consultations, are sprinkler systems that use too much pressure for the lawns theyre being used on; others are simply blocked or broken.

For those who wish to reduce their reliance on watering lawns, Savolainen believes that many of the Web sites people go to for information on gardening, and TV shows like HGTV, have tactics and plants more suitable for lawns back east, and dont always apply to the Southern California desert.

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Focus on Pass area business: Drought Solutions

By Eric Elwell Tuesday November 4, 2014 6:22 PM UPDATED: Tuesday November 4, 2014 6:28 PM COLUMBUS, Ohio -

April Burnside says she loves the fall weather, but she just doesn't have time to keep up with it. "Like most people, I have a busy life. I have kids. They need to go places and do things and I'd rather be with them than raking leaves, she explains.

Last weekend, the growing season officially came to an end after our first hard freeze of the season. Plus, gusty winds have sent leaves piling up. So you may have found yourself wondering when you will have time to get your yard cleaned up.

April has gotten some help.

"We have the leaves removed, we have the shrubs all trimmed and pruned for the fall and they prepare the outside of the house for the winter.

Dave Smith, manager of Peabody Landscape Group, says customers can have their custom landscaping work done without lifting a finger via a simple phone call.

10TV followed a crew from Peabody Landscape Group as they worked to keep up with Mother Nature. Smith says this is a busy time of year For Fall time, the big thing is leaf removal. You've also got your winterization of your irrigation, so as a company, we blow everything out. It's a great time to add that last fertilization to help the grass bounce back in the springtime."

Of course, time is money.

Winterizing your irrigation system will average $90 to $100 dollars. Fertilizing $50-$75 and to have your leaves cleaned up will cost an average of $250, up to $700 depending, on the size of your property for two visits.

For April, the price is worth it. It becomes a balance of doing things that I like or spending time raking leaves that are just going to fall again tonight and I'll have to go back out and rack them tomorrow!"

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To Rake Or Not To Rake? Fall Yard Work Has Some Homeowners Choosing Sides

A heavily disputed piece of commercial property that borders The Regency at Ridgefield on Route 7 will receive public hearing Tuesday, Nov. 5, when the Planning and Zoning Commission reviews plans for a proposed contractors yard that would include four buildings and 14 units on the three-acre site.

Last year, the neighbors at the Regency opposed and ultimately chased away the proposed relocation of Danbury-based Ergotech Inc. a light manufacturing facility to the site, which is on the east side of Route 7 directly across from Little Pond.

This time around, residents of the condominium complex face the development of a facility that contractors would work out of and use to store construction equipment.

It wont come quietly or quickly.

The longtime owner of the site, Larry Leary Development LLC, is applying for a pair of special permits at the towns planning office one for a multi-unit contractors yard and another for rock crushing, excavation and earth processing in excess of 2,000 cycles that would apply temporarily during construction.

The latter application is for the removal 40,000 cubic yards of material from the steeply sloped site.

The 2.97-acre site is wedged between Route 7 and the 73-unit Regency complex, which is to the east and north of the commercially zoned Leary property. The Regency condominiums are at a considerably higher elevation than the Route 7 frontage of the site, where development of the contractors yard is planned.

Blasting, or ripping of rock, should last one to two weeks, which would be followed by rock processing and material removing for another one to two weeks.

That schedule would then be repeated over a six-month period.

The application estimates that 2,300 trips would be required before all of the material was completely removed and the rest of the construction could begin.

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Zoners to review Route 7 contractors yard plan